give a kid a fish

[lazyinlove]

Date & Time: breakfast time, because it's always breakfast time on Breaking Bad.
Location: lunar 409 and then the cafeteria
Characters: Jesse pinkman, Stanley Lucerne, and a borrowed Exsile child named Peace
Summary: the kids are hungry and they have reason to suspect Jesse knows how to cook
Warnings: language, maybe mentions of drugs because...these two. oh and some missing teeth. long story.


The thing is, you have to know when to admit defeat. And when a four year old gives you a dirty look for the probably one thousandth piece of stale, crappy soda bread toast you've tried to serve her in the past few weeks, it might be time to wave the white flag. The question is, who do you ask for help?

Not the network. Fuck the fucking network, it's full of crazy people. There's that big bruiser guy with the funny ear who helped once, but he has cop aura. And Saul called the guy a PI, better not to. Then there's Saul, who was totally going to feed Stanley sometimes anyway because of...actually he doesn't know why. But Saul wouldn't poison them.

Stephanie might do something like try to take the kid away, though. She might even be right to. Except Peace bawled her head off if he left her alone long enough to take a piss (which he had no choice about anyway,) let alone if he just handed her over to a crazy lady who maybe knew how to cook more than toast. It just wasn't a good idea, and those two came as a set lately as far as Stan could tell.

Only, once Saul had mentioned that Jesse could cook. And Jesse wouldn't try anything douchey. So Stan waited until Lisbeth left to go bite some vampires or whatever she got up to in her spare time, and peeked in on Jesse to see if he was sleeping or what. 'Cause either way, he was making some breakfast. Peace was getting good at puppy eyes, it would totally work.

"Jesse? Hey, Jesse..."

Comments

[vaccination]

Super awkward.

Ellie will just stare back at the baby, not sure how to interact with her--or if she should at all.

[hostage]

"You fall asleep and drop that baby girl, I swear to god I'm kicking out the rest of your teeth."

Look, it's Jesse. Blessedly right on cue. He balancing one tray on each hand, bearing four mugs and four plates stacked with chocolate chip pancakes. Three of the mugs are filled with milk, because kids need that. His own is filled with coffee.

"Ain't no syrup, can you believe that?" he says as he sets the table. "Dry as hell pancakes. I didn't even think about looking before I made 'em. No whipped cream either."

poor Ellie

[lazyinlove]

"It's impossible to drop her. She sticks. And what the fuck is your problem?" Answers the table, suddenly not in a very chipper mood. Jessie's starting to sound like his dad, and that sucks.

For her part, Peace holds still and demonstrates by clinging, wide eyed. She lived in a dangerous city, back before the place got erased. She spent a whole month on the run. She knows enough to quiet down and steel herself for flight when she feels Stanley tense up. Even the pancakes don't get a passing glance from her. In a move that maybe Ellie will finally understand, the child of war waits for unspoken orders from the reluctant soldier she's come to trust.

It's feeling Peace tense, rather than Jesse's probably idle threat, that gets Stan to finally sit up.

[vaccination]

Everyone could stop with the baby girls anytime soon. Ellie just presses her tongue between her teeth and practically jumps out of her seat when Jesse approaches, going to grab one of the trays with both hands. She'll take the pancakes, thank you very much. What a helper.

"That's fine," Ellie says, and it really is because when Joel made her pancakes in Exsilium, they didn't have either of those things either. The chocolate chips will make up for it. When she puts down the tray on the table, she shrugs.

"So, these are mine. What are you guys going to eat?"

Just kidding. She'll share with the baby she's trying to mostly ignore right now.

[hostage]

Jesse ignores Stanley for the moment, flashing a grin at Ellie. "Don't eat too fast," he cautions in his big-brother voice. "You'll hurt your stomach. And, hey, remember to drink your milk."

With everything set, he walks around to Stan's side of the table and reaches to take the baby from his arms, cooing, "Come on, Sweet-Peace. Let's see if you like pancakes. I bet you do, 'cause they're chocolate."

[lazyinlove]

Peace is still concerned, but when Stanley doesn't move to stop Jesse she goes with it, clinging to Jesse instead now, still waiting for a bomb to go off or gunfire or something awful. Instead, Stanley snakes the coffee now that he's been liberated of baby duties. Mmm, sleep replacement. Fuck yeah.

[vaccination]

By now, she's learned her lesson about eating too fast and too much. After fourteen years of canned goods, Exsilium and the moon base are like buffets. There had been a lot of stomach cramps, but hell yeah had they all been worth it.

"I know, I know," she replies, rolling her eyes with exaggerated exasperation as she takes her share and a mug, settling back into her chair. Stanley gets a look because she totally saw that and no doubt Jesse will, too. The coffee was totally for the adult.

It's not like the coffee machine is that far, anyway.

"She can eat this stuff?" Ellie's once again looking at the baby. She has no idea when kids can start on solid food. Any other day she would have assumed these two had no fucking clue, either.

[hostage]

Oh yeah. He saw that. But he's not going to start a fight over it. He doesn't care that much, and he's got a baby to pay attention to. "She's juuuust old enough for solids," Jesse answers as he gets settled, Peace propped up on his lap. He can tell she's nervous, so he kisses her head again before reaching to cut off a little bite of pancake with a spoon, which he then offers to her. "Mmm, you want any? It's good."

Sob autocorrect sorry

[lazyinlove]

"You're a dork." Stan addresses Jesse, with an unapologetic sip of the stolen coffee. Mmm. He takes a couple pancakes off the tray and drops them onto a plate, drooling already at just the scent. Man, pancakes are way better than toast. To Ellie, Stanley's reply is a little less familiar. "Uh, she can walk and stuff. She just doesn't talk because we sound weird to her. Her ear got fucked up last time...last time. But she understands. So not fresh out of the baby oven or anything, just not ready for kindergarten yet."

Peace, for her part, seems to understand some of the conversation, but not all of it. She understands pancakes well enough, though, and chomps onto the spoon like a tiny alligator. She's seen how cutlery is used before, but hasn't figured out how to effectively use it herself, yet. So she reaches for the pancake with her hand. More, please.

no worries 8)

[vaccination]

Ellie's never really paid attention to parents with their children--being an orphan made you a little bitter about that shit--but this is sort of nice to watch. It's good to see Jesse in a better place than he was before, and Ellie tries to not stare too much (too late), shoveling large pieces of pancake in her mouth.

So good. She looks over at Stanley once her mouth is empty.

"Oh. I've never been around babies much, so. I don't know how they work or anything." Like she's talking about technology.

[hostage]

"Good girl! You want more, huh?"

Jesse doesn't seem to mind being called a dork. He will totally be a dork for the sake of a baby. He cuts off another bite of pancake for Peace and offers it to her, beaming because she likes it! Hooray! Don't mind him. He's lost in his own little world with her.

[lazyinlove]

"I've never even had a pet," Stan admits with a shrug, cuddling that coffee cup close. Caffeine is a precious object now that someone kicks his neck in their sleep and wakes him up most nights. It doesn't seem weird at all to him for a girl who looks a few years younger than him to be clueless about babies. He's an only child. Maybe this girl is too. "Kids kinda tell you what they want. If you never need to piss or sleep it's not that hard to look after one."

Peace viciously attacks the spoonful of pancakes again, but by now she's watching Ellie curiously. She doesn't seem threatened, the way she usually is around strangers. Just interested. She looks alarmed for a moment when Stanley says the word piss, apparently fully aware of it's meaning. And the way he tends to leave her with someone else when he says it. It takes a long moment for her to relax again when he doesn't actually move to leave. A d when she relaxes again, she goes right back to stubbornly poking her fingers at the pancake, ready to scoop up a fistful of it and make a clean break with her breakfast score.

[vaccination]

"Can I hold her?" She's not sure if she should be asking Jesse or Stan, so she just looks at both. Holding a kid seems like something most people have done, so might as well get this first time over with now that the opportunity has presented itself. Hell, maybe this would be the only chance she'd get.

Ellie doesn't ever want a kid of her own. She's certain. God knows what's in her blood.

"I won't drop her or anything. I'm, uh, good at not dropping stuff..."

It couldn't be that difficult, right?

[hostage]

"Sure, yeah, you can hold her." Honestly, Jesse trusts Ellie with the baby more than he trusts Stan right now. He bows his head to explain to Peace in baby-voice, "Ellie's gonna hold you so I can give you pancakes easy. Okay?" Not that he expects the kid to agree. He's just hoping she won't start wailing again and make Ellie feel bad.

Jesse scoots over to pass the baby on to Ellie, nudging the plate closer with his elbow, too, so Peace can see she isn't being denied more food.

[lazyinlove]

Peace opens her arms eagerly and leans forward, only to realize she isn't being given back to Stanley, but to this stranger. She makes a whining sound of protest and tries to squirm away, though she doesn't actually start to cry the way she usually does with adults who try to hold her.

Stan glances up at that and switches his fork to the other hand, so the little girl can grab hold of his hand across the table. It quiets her down, and stops her squirming around on poor Ellie. He smiles at them both, then remembers about his stupid teeth and closes his mouth again. Whoops.

"She likes hair. If you let her play with yours you'll be best friends in ten minutes."

[vaccination]

Oh, god.

Ellie shifts around so it's an easy transfer from Jesse's lap to hers, and awkwardly puts her arms around the wiggly baby so she doesn't fall right off. This is a lot different from holding a dog or a cat. Ellie looks like she's holding a delicate piece of china. Or a bomb.

Don't break the baby. Don't drop the baby. Don't make the baby cry. Hope the baby doesn't take a dump.

She tries to imagine Joel taking care of a baby this age, and she can't.

"Hi there," Ellie figures talking to the child is a good idea, and so she tries to imitate Jesse's tone. Light, friendly. However, Ellie can't shake the nervousness in her voice. This is new in a scary way.

At Stan's advice, she hesitantly pushes her hair onto her shoulder. Okay, she can do this. This was a good thing to do. "Let's not rip out Ellie's hair..."

[hostage]

Jesse laughs when he sits back and takes a look at Ellie with the baby. "Relax," he says. "She ain't gonna bite you. I mean, not too hard, anyway."

He takes the opportunity, while Peace is distracted and not demanding food, to cut the pancake into spongy bite-sized squares.

[lazyinlove]

Peace chews on her fingers nervously, sensing Ellie's nerves. But Stanley's hand is there, and he isn't tense. She decides it's alright. She can meet this new person, it's safe.

When Ellie pushes her hair forward, Peace stares at it, eagerly. She doesn't reach for it just yet, but keeps chewing on her fingers and looking on, curiously. Stanley clumsily eats his pancakes with the wrong hand, glancing up every so often to make sure Ellie isn't too freaked out, but otherwise he's got nothing to add. It's probably best not to tell Ellie that Peace totally bites sometimes. It's not a frequent thing, so there's probably no need to sweat it. This time he keeps his lips closed when he smiles at her, and gives her a nod. Yep, that's right. Doing fine. Holding the little one is a success for you, missy.

[vaccination]

She's been bitten by far worse than a baby, so Ellie hopes she can manage with Peace. But she tries her best to relax, letting out a soft sigh.

"Have both of you guys been taking care of her since we got here?"

Ellie's put two and two together, with the child not being either of theirs, and they way Stanley didn't really want to expand on it.

[hostage]

Jesse leaves the answer to Stan, because if he opens his mouth right now, he's definitely going to say something about how he thought Stan was taking care of the kid, but apparently he's been getting high and feeding her toast for a month.

[lazyinlove]

Stanley, for his part, quirks an eyebrow. Jesse, taking care of the kid? Nah. The guy was alright with big kids, but he wouldn't have left him alone with a little one like Peace. Not after everything he'd seen. But he's also not going to be a dick and say that, so he shrugs.

"She came with me. But she knows Jesse too, we live together. They're buds."

[vaccination]

It's just idle curiosity, an excuse to talk. They might not look like they can take care of a baby, but books and their covers, right?

"You're really good with her," Ellie says to Jesse. Maybe it comes with age, or maybe some people are just naturals.

Stanley just sort of got his hair tugged at. Sorry, dude.

[hostage]

"Got a kid back home," Jesse says with a shrug, his eyes still on the pancake he's chopping into pieces.

[lazyinlove]

O...kay. Maybe he's not supposed to be part of this conversation. Maybe these two are trying to catch up and whatever, since they seem to be friends. Either way, it's a little awkward to be ignored. Maybe not quite as awkward as trying to eat his pancakes with the wrong hand, though. He gives up and pushes the plate away, going back to the coffee instead.

[vaccination]

Nope, this is just awkward all around. Ellie had no idea. Suddenly, talking to Jesse is different because he has a kid back home. Not like Steph who gave hers up for adoption, but more... sad. Parents without their kids are sad. It always makes Ellie's chest hurt a bit, because she's used to it being the other way around--kids without their parents.

Both were shitty situations, though.

After a few super awkward moments of not knowing what to say, Ellie clears her throat.

"If you don't eat those, I will." She keeps one arm around Peace as she slowly reaches for Stanley's plate. "You didn't even have that much."